Council tried to stop sports tournament to shield children from losing

A 40-year-old summer sports tournament for primary schools was almost
cancelled when council staff told parents they had to shield children from
the "negative emotions" of losing.

By Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent

4:00PM BST 26 May 2010

The sports development officers were asked to officiate at an annual football and netball event in the Scottish Borders, but said they could not do so because of the Scottish Football Association’s opposition to handing out sports trophies.

The policy is based on research suggesting that pupils aged five to 11 are too young to deal with defeat and could suffer from low self-esteem.

However, parents who fought the decision were celebrating after hearing that the event could go ahead despite the council's position.

The protest was led by Fiona Pagett, 41, a mother-of-two from the village of Broughton, who said her nine-year-old daughter was looking forward to playing netball.

She added: "I found out that because of these new rules protecting children's self-esteem they could not take part in a competition where trophies were awarded. It's absolutely ridiculous.”

The video producer lodged a complaint with Scottish Borders Council after four sports development officers – whose jobs are run jointly by the authority and the association - said they would not be able to officiate.

The tournament was re-instated after a Facebook campaign but will have to be run without the officials.

The council said it did not have a policy of non-competitive sports for primary pupils but complied with SFA guidance.

A spokesman for the association said: "Years of research has shown that young children's emotions can be negatively affected by competition."